Upon donning Lubin KORRIGAN for the very first time (from an unsolicited sample which I received from a niche emporium along with an order), my immediate reaction was: "Weird." It struck me as a not entirely harmonious mixture of sweet lavender and leather. I thought, in fact, that the sweetness was imparted by vanilla, and since lavender-vanilla is not my favorite combination (not am amateur of Caron POUR UN HOMME...), I was not optimistic about this at all. However, within minutes, my reservations had dissolved, as the perfume evolved into a gorgeous and perfectly balanced only slightly sweet leather drydown, and the leather smelled smooth and supple, not at all oily.

I am quite picky about lavender in perfumes, and many leather notes do not please me. These are matters of taste, of course, but to me lavender often seems strident and harsh, and black leather notes can be unpleasantly heavy and intense. I suppose that whips and chains and iron maidens are not really my kind of thing. I appreciate lighter leather notes, but the ones which smell like an oiled saddle do not appeal to me at all.

No such problem in the case of KORRIGAN, which smells rather like a new pair of gloves. Only a faint trace of the sweetness--apparently imparted by a cognac note?--remains by the drydown, so this composition ends up conjuring in my mind memories of the scent of Buenos Aires, where fine leather shops are interspersed with bakeries offering alfajores and empanadas.

KORRIGAN occupies the same general olfactory neighborhood as Van Cleef & Arpels MIDNIGHT IN PARIS. However, I believe that the quality of the leather note is higher in this case, although I confess that when I donned MIDNIGHT IN PARIS to compare the two, I seemed to have warmed up to the latter, too. This gently sweetened leather must be an acquired taste...

Mythical creatures, fairies and sprites who dwell near mossy wells and brew mysterious beverages – these are the Celtic korrigans who lend their name to this perfume. Gilles Thevenin and his brand Lubin were never short of stories about their perfumes. If advertising can be art, the wonderful Lubin website is a good place to experience just this.

Whoever now supposes Korrigan to be a green meadow and forest perfume, or to even have something in common with Miraculix' strong magic potion is grossly wrong. To me, the idea of Korrigan seems to be based in the presumption that those who are accessible for the romance of Celtic mythology also like something else as well: a sensual bed sheet fragrance with a luscious gourmand note!

A “Caramel Wood Liqueur” determines the top note, deficiently described in the pyramid by Whiskey and Cognac. I hesitate to call it a toffee candy, this would be too simple by far. The butter fudge comes along with a heart-warming liquor providing some booziness. A homey spiciness may be ascribed to the saffron. Simultaneously, creamy and milky musk notes form a background which is distinctively neat and tidy. I would like to regard this as a kind of Italian ice cream parlour accord: there are these ambrosial aromas that evaporate from ice sorts like Malaga, Pistache, Hazelnut or Torrone - and they are linked to that specific impression of coolness and cleanliness that the production of ice cream may require. Isn't this a childhood memory for all of us?

After a while, the gourmandy notes leave, and the fragrance continues less loud. A soft and creamy accord remains with us. It is a skin accord, and this implies its double meaning: it now stays closer to the skin, and it also smells like skin. You have to go through the whole presentation on the Lubin website to get to know what they have been up to: a representation of intimacy, sensuality and private moments.

Again, also this accord could only insufficiently be described as creamy musk – it is by far more. But I cannot smell any leather, vetiver cedar or oud as such. If at all, a minimal touch of dark resins add a more bitter aspect.

Personally, I am not fond of gourmand fragrances, but Korrigan elates me in every respect. The reasons are almost too many to be listed here.

At first, Gilles Thevenin is working together with excellent perfumers, and he seems to grant them all the time that is needed to create a really excellent perfume. I suppose one can smell that, namely in Korrigan's homogeneity. The notes never give you the impression of being put side by side, and it is not easy to discriminate them. Instead, they were transferred into something unique of outstanding beauty and elegance.

Then I notice a specific basic structure in Korrigan which I usually find problematic in other perfumes. I meant that spectacular top note being followed by something much more discreet. Usually, I cannot approve to such a perfume – most fragrances of that kind go for the “Wow” effect – they aim at quick buyers who have to be impressed in an instant no matter how disappointed they'd be later.

This is completely different with Korrigan. If this is a fragrance that according to Lubin should be kept for intimate moments, then it musk keep its especialness. Then the experience called Korrigan must not be reproducible easily like the taste of any butter toffee. Actually, you can have Korrigan only once per day – or night. When the top note fades away, only the memory will stay. Re-applying too shortly after the first application will not or not completely bring back the spectacular top note. Instead, the base notes will be emphasized. Korrigan is for perfume gourmets, not for gourmands.

At last, both parts of Korrigan fit together extremely well – and this should not be taken for granted considered the complete different characters of those two sides. Most goumand fragrances are quite unerotic to me, whereas sensual musks usually are not mouth-watering. Korrigan is both. I like it better than Lubin's Idole which can count as its forerunner. Also there you find a spectacular, gloriously boozy head note, and then everything calms down and becomes common. There, I am missing the cleat that holds together Korrigan so well and integrates the drydown into an overall concept.

A feast for the eyes as well – one has to praise Lubin for the flacon design: a sculptural form with organic curves that is good to hold in one's hands.The cap provides a dynamic touch but also the archaic sternness and the ethnic touch that comes down from Idole.

The best argument however is the sheer beauty of Korrigan. As a bed sheet fragrance, Korrigan expresses tenderness and intimacy like no other – not so much wild sex. As a gourmand fragrance, Korrigan smells much more delicious as any respective food. A praliné or candy that tastes as good as the smell of Korrigan – sorry, I don't know any!

Is Korrigan an Oud fragrance? I open the review with this statement since that particular note can dominate an entire composition if tuned for that result. Korrigan, at least on me, is certainly not what the fragrance community has come to expect from Oud being listed in the accord.

Even the Saffron is implemented in a shy fashion. Saffron and Oud seem to be partners in crime over the past few years as Oud has slowly but surely become more mainstream to western noses. On one hand, I'm glad that Oud isn't front and center, but I do enjoy a well played Saffron and it simply never realizes on my skin. What does come to fruition is Ambrette, but along with it materializes a soft spoken play-dough note.

Korrigan opens with a spicy woods and the suggestion of "booze". To be honest, the listed Cognac and Whiskey are anything but realistic. The accord still smells good, so that's all that matters. The Ambrette is supported by Musk and and creates an earthy sensuality with a floral component. The play-dough quality is evident on my skin throughout the life of the wearings, but in this case, it's not a drawback. If anything, it's interesting and subdued.

Leather and Vetiver perform as accent players and lend body as opposed to unraveling individually. These notes lend a certain animalic aspect where the Musk is concerned. It's not overt, but subtle and as stated earlier, more sensual than distracting.

Sillage is acceptable and longevity is approximately 5 hours or a little better on me. Thumbs up from Aromi for Korrigan by Lubin. In this case, a sample wear is strongly recommended.

Korrigan opens with a splash of warmed cognac liquor and gin-like juniper before transitioning quickly to its very strong lavender-laced ambrette heart. The lavender adds a soft powder sheen to the musk-like sweet ambrette that is rather overpowering at times and has a slight makeup-like undertone to it. During the dry-down the powdery lavender fades but the ambrette remains with a suede-like leather joining the party but always taking a back seat to that relatively sweet booze-laced musky-makeup vibe that dominates most of the scent's development. Projection is above average and longevity is exceptional.

I really thought I would like Korrigan based on the published notes but I just don't. While it has incredible longevity and quite good projection, the ambrette used is just so strong and cloying that it overpowers most of the rest of the notes in the scent, save the powdery lavender (a note I generally dislike when it comes off as powder) only adding to my dismay. I expected a more cedar wood and vetiver driven scent given the base notes, but instead I'm finding Korrigan a more warm boozy and somewhat sweet powdery musk-like scent with a poorly implemented iris-like waxy undertone. In short, I just outright dislike the implementation of the notes used in the $180 retail priced Korrigan and can't recommend it despite its great performance and amazing bottle, awarding it a below average 2 to 2.5 stars out of 5.